By Bernard Purcell
Emigrant Support grants range from £450 for graduate network to £955,000 for Irish Centre in Camden.
Irish organisations in Britain have received grants totalling nearly £5.5 million under Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Emigrant Support Programme (ESP).
This year’s cash awards, made by Diaspora Minister Ciarán Cannon TD at the Embassy of Ireland on Tuesday, brings the total cash to organisations in Britain since 2013 under the ESP to £30 million.
The biggest winners are the London Irish Centre in Camden- currently trying to raise £9 million for an ambitious redevelopment of the centre.
The centre, which lists 34 employees in its accounts and 150 volunteers, had income of £1,610,891 and expenditure of £1,341,147 according to its most recent accounts. This year it receives £955,000 from Irish taxpayers.
The umbrella body Irish in Britain, which when it was the Federation of Irish Societies received a total of nearly £10 million over several years under it and predecessor schemes, receives £400,000 this year.
Its accounts lists 9 employees working for it and none of them, including its CEO Brian Dalton, earns more than £60,000.
This is in contrast to a smaller organisation like Safe Start Foundation in Wembley which this year receives £70,000.
For the full story and to see the full list of awards for 2019, pick up this week’s Irish World.
